Coyotes in CT

After seeing a coyote mid day cross River Rd. in Essex and then have a customer from Saw Mill Rd. in Guilford call today to tell me of coyotes passing though his yard during the day, I was thinking about coyotes and what is happening with them this time of year. Then, a recent article in the local news about them made me want to write about them.

Basically, A coyotes main food is mice. At this time of the year, mice reproduce slowly, if at all do to the cold and the focus being on survival. With the coyotes consumption of mice , as well as other predators after the same thing, decreased reproduction and natural mortality from the cold and starvation to the mouse itself, there is less food for the coyote right now. In addition, the cold increases the amount of food a coyote needs to keep warm and survive itself.

Nothing will make an animal move around more and thus be spotted more than a lack of food or when it is searching for food, generally speaking. There is not much to be done regarding the sightings of these animal, nor should there be. They are opportunistic when searching for food and can be seen stalking deer and lurking is residential areas in search of pets. Generally, there is not much that can be done except keep your pets inside or on a tight leash and wait the season out. As it warms up, the sightings will most likely decrease. Then in the spring as the young are born, the coyotes will again be visible as they hunt for food for their young. It’s all part of the natural world we live in.